Kick-off: 1630, 01/01/2023
Stadium: City Ground
TV: Sky Sports
Chelsea put a poor pre-World Cup run of results behind them when beating Bournemouth and can build on that win at Nottingham Forest.
The Reds have been relying heavily on picking up points at home to boost their Premier League survival hopes, but this is a tough test.
We favour 12/5 for an away victory by any one-goal margin as our first Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea prediction.
Nottingham Forest Odds
Forest were left second from bottom after being thumped 3-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Steve Cooper’s side did have the ball in the net late in the first half but Willy Boly was ruled offside by VAR.
“We’ve lost 3-0, so the main reflection is one of disappointment,” Cooper said. “It’s disappointing we’ve given away the goals we did.
“United were the better team throughout and deserved to win the game, but what we didn’t do was make the most of any good moments we had.
“We did find some good positions in the first half, but we didn’t make the most of them.
“We had enough corners and set-pieces to have more of an opportunity to create and score goals. Delivery has let us down.
“I just think we lacked quality and belief when we had moments to make a difference in the game. That’s something we are going to have to do better going forward.”
Forest have earned just two points and scored only one goal from eight top-flight road trips, but can take heart from their home form.
West Ham, Liverpool and Crystal Palace were all beaten 1-0 at the City Ground, along with draws against Aston Villa and Brentford.
The Reds have only been behind once at the interval here all season, so 17/5 for Draw HT/Chelsea FT takes the eye from the Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea odds.
Last Forest line-up: Hennessey, Worrall, Aurier, Boly, Lodi, Mangala, Yates, Freuler, Awoniyi, Lingard, Johnson.
Forest are sweating on Morgan Gibbs-White (calf) and Jesse Lingard (hamstring). Dean Henderson returns after being ineligible against United, but Cheikou Kouyate (hamstring), Omar Richards (leg) and Moussa Niakhate (hamstring) all miss out.
Chelsea Odds
Chelsea have work to do to make the top four this term after struggling before the Qatar 2022 lay-off, when losing three straight league games.
However, the Blues began their recovery with a comfortable 2-0 victory versus Bournemouth, which gave us a trio of successful selections, including an 11/2 correct score pay-out.
Early goals from Kai Havertz and Mason Mount did the damage and Graham Potter’s side kept a first clean sheet in eight outings despite coming under some late pressure.
“I was delighted to score but the main thing was to get the win and that’s huge for us,” Germany forward Havertz told the club website.
“The win and the goals will hopefully give us confidence going forward.
“We lost three before the World Cup break and it was important we got the victory in the first game back, so we are very happy to do this.
“We have to keep winning and this period coming up is going to be crucial for us.
“We are going to give our best in the next games to get on a run and this is a fantastic start for us.”
Havertz, who was tipped to break the deadlock, was handed the central striker’s role by Potter and grabbed a superb poacher’s goal by sliding in to convert Raheem Sterling’s cross.
“I like to play free and to get into the box and he’s told me to do that more, so I was happy that it paid off with the goal,” added the 23-year-old.
Let’s stick with the £71million front man to open the scoring again here at 7/2 in our Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea betting tips.
Last Chelsea line-up: Kepa, Silva, James, Koulibaly, Cucurella, Jorginho, Mount, Zakaria, Pulisic, Sterling, Havertz.
Chelsea will be without England full-back Reece James for up to a month with a recurrence of his knee injury but World Cup duo Hakim Ziyech and Mateo Kovacic are back in the squad.
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